


if we all light up

by Flowerparrish



Category: Captain America (Movies), Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers Friendship, Fluff, M/M, Musician Clint Barton, POV Bucky Barnes, band au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:20:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22706128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flowerparrish/pseuds/Flowerparrish
Summary: Steve had managed to win a radio giveaway for tickets to a concert of some new up and coming pop singer no one had really heard of before his latest single rocked the charts. He went by some stupid moniker—something about birds—rather than by his actual name, and his hit single was the embodiment of everything Bucky hated about love songs and pop music rolled into one. And yet, Steve had somehow convinced Bucky to go with him to the stupid concert with him, because Sam was busy babysitting for his sister’s kids and Tony hated grating pop music even more than Bucky did.They needed more friends.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton
Comments: 38
Kudos: 124
Collections: Winterhawk Valentine's Day 2020 Blind Date Exchange





	if we all light up

**Author's Note:**

> For misterknife for the Blind Date Winterhawk Exchange! This is not _exactly _what you prompted, but Clint does sing and play and instrument, and Bucky does enjoy it. I got this plot bunny when I read your prompt and got really attached, so I hope you like it! Happy Valentine's Day!__

“I can’t believe you’re making me go with you to this,” Bucky grumbled for approximately the hundredth time.  
  
And, yeah, he was kind of annoying _himself_ with his own complaining, so he didn’t get how Steve could still be so chipper and excited. The look Steve shot him was far too fond. “It’s just a couple hours long, Buck. You’ll survive.”

“Ugh, but at what _cost?”_

Steve had managed to win a radio giveaway for tickets to a concert of some new up and coming pop singer no one had really heard of before his latest single rocked the charts. He went by some stupid moniker—something about birds—rather than by his actual name, and his hit single was the embodiment of everything Bucky hated about love songs and pop music rolled into one. And yet, Steve had somehow convinced Bucky to go with him to the stupid concert with him, because Sam was busy babysitting for his sister’s kids and Tony hated grating pop music even more than Bucky did.

They needed more friends.

So, Bucky was going. But he was absolutely going to whine about it the whole time, and then he would use this an excuse to not do any other dumb things Steve asked of him for at least a month, because surely, after this, he would have suffered enough.

Getting into the venue was easy enough. It was some kind of old fashion theater, which Bucky would whine about, but it was actually pretty and he hadn’t ever been to a concert in this kind of venue, so he could acknowledge that this was at least a cool new experience.

_See, Steve,_ he thought, smug. _I don’t complain about_ everything.

Their seats were fairly close to the front, which, Bucky didn’t care, but he could acknowledge that at least he could _see._

“Just keep an open mind,” Steve pleaded while they waited for the show to start, Bucky fiddling on his phone.

“Can’t,” Bucky said. “I’ve already heard his most popular song, and I hate it. So everything else is probably going to be even worse.”

Steve rolled his eyes, but before he could continue to try to convince Bucky that this wasn’t going to be terrible, the lights went dim and a man walked on stage, lit by a spotlight.

The guy was _cute._ So, okay, Bucky was even more glad that he had good sightlines, because even if he was going to suffer through music he hated for the next couple hours, this… might be worth it.

Not that he was ever going to tell Steve.

But then the guy started to _sing,_ and… what?

The first song didn’t suck.

The second song really didn’t suck.

The third song, he told a story about befriending packs of wild dogs in a foreign country, and then he sang a song about it, and it was _good._

Bucky… didn’t understand what was going on.

He glanced at Steve, who had the gall to look a little bit bored.

The guy sang ten songs that didn’t suck before he sang the stupid popular one, and Bucky could almost appreciate it, now that he could pick out what parts of it marked it as distinctly similar to the guy’s other songs. He still thought it was the worst of the lot, so clearly no one had any taste, but whatever.

He ended on a fun, upbeat folk-style song, and then the most confusing couple of hours of Bucky’s life were over.

He glanced over at Steve. “That…” He didn’t even have words.

“I know, I know, you hated it,” Steve said.

“No,” Bucky said immediately. “I mean, I… didn’t. Hate it.”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?”

Bucky scowled at him. “I mean, I still hate that one song. But the rest of it was… good.”

“So you’ll stick around for the meet and greet so I can get him to sign something?”

Bucky hadn’t known there would be a meet and greet. The idea terrified him. He also desperately wanted to meet the hot guy with a beautiful voice and a discography of mostly good songs.

“Yeah, sure,” he agreed, trying not to sound eager. “If you want.”

Steve’s eyeing him now, suspicion clear on his face, but he slowly says, “O-kay then.”

They joined the line, and it wasn’t nearly as long as Bucky had expected. They were still toward the back, though, because so it took them about twenty minutes to get to the guy. The really hot guy.

Oh, fuck, that’s what he’s called, Hawkeye. Right.

“Hey,” Steve said. “Could you sign my ticket?”

“Yeah, ‘course,” Hawkeye agreed, smiling politely. “Did you like the show?”

“It was great,” Steve said. He was not, in Bucky’s completely unbiased opinion, nearly enthusiastic enough.

“I liked the song about the dogs,” Bucky said. Well, blurted.

Hawkeye’s gaze shifts to him, and he grins brightly. It’s only in the face of this bright smile that Bucky can tell how fake his regular smiles to everyone else have been. “Yeah?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Bucky agrees. “It’s way better than that one everyone’s obsessed with. I hate that song.”

The words are out of Bucky’s mouth before he can stop them, and once they’ve been said, he wants to cover his mouth to try in vain to take them back. _Fuck._

Hawkeye blinks at him for a moment, apparently shocked, and then he throws his head back and laughs. “Did you really like the other stuff?” he asked, once he was done laughing.

“Yeah,” Bucky promised. “I was surprised. Steve,” and he gestured at Steve, who was watching them with shrewd eyes, “dragged me here, and I thought it was going to suck. But I really liked your music.”

Hawkeye’s eyes were bright now. “Do you have something for me to sign?” he asked Bucky. He seemed to realize, as he did, that he had never signed Steve’s ticket. He did that briefly, personalizing it now that he knew Steve’s name, which Bucky thought was a nice touch.

“Uh, just my ticket,” Bucky said, but he handed it over.

Hawkeye wrote a lot more on Bucky’s ticket than he’d written on Steve’s. Bucky couldn’t see what it was, but when Hawkeye handed him back his ticket, the next person in line began to push forward, and Bucky reluctantly backed away. “Bye,” Hawkeye called to him.

“Bye,” Bucky said softly, a little disappointed for no good reason.

He and Steve pushed through the crowd and out into the dark night. “What did he write on yours?” Steve asked.

Bucky angled it so he could read it in the light of a streetlamp.

_Grab a drink with me? Or text me, if you want._

Underneath the words was a phone number, and he had signed it, _-Clint._

Bucky, wordless, showed it to Steve.

Steve nudged him. “He’s cute,” Steve pointed out.

Bucky nodded.

“You should go out with him.”

“I have work tomorrow.”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “So call out sick.”

Bucky laughed. “Yeah, okay. You gonna come along?”

“On your date? No thanks.” Steve nudged him again. “I’ll wait out here with you until he’s done, though.”

They chatted aimlessly, but it didn’t take long for Clint to appear. When he saw Bucky and Steve, he lit up. “You stayed!”

“Yeah,” Bucky agreed. He was a little breathless just at the sight of Clint, blond hair glowing in the light of the streetlamps like he had a halo. “Drinks?”

Clint nodded, then hesitated. “Or anything, really,” he said. “It was mostly an excuse to keep talking to you.” He rubbed at the bridge of his nose, a clear gesture of nervousness.

“Well, I have to head out,” Steve said. “Nice to meet you.” He shook Clint’s hand and then left.

“So, just to be clear,” Bucky said, and a part of him was screaming at him to stop, but the words just kept coming, “this is a date, right?”

“Uh, yeah,” Clint agreed, a bit hesitant. “If you want?”

“Hell yeah,” Bucky agreed. After a moment’s consideration, he held out a hand and said, “C’mon. Let’s go get drinks and you can tell me more of the stories behind your songs.”

Clint’s grin was the brightest it had been yet. “Do I get to learn about you?” he asked. “Like, your name?”

Bucky blinked. Surely he had told Clint his name, right? He must have.

He replayed the conversation in his head and winced. “Uh, Bucky. Well, James Barnes, but I go by Bucky.”

“Bucky,” Clint repeated, voice soft on Bucky’s name. “I like it.” He took Bucky’s hand, tangling their fingers together.

They headed off into the night, and Bucky reflected that this really, really wasn’t what he’d been expecting when Steve dragged him to this concert.

He was going to owe Steve so much after this. He was going to be doing dumb shit with Steve for months.

In this moment, though, the chance to listen to Clint talk about music and hold his hand was absolutely worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> There will probably be a sequel to this, because there's more I want to explore with this universe. But for now! I hope you enjoyed this short meet cute.
> 
> Also, title is from Passenger's Scare Away the Dark, because Clint as Hawkeye is shamelessly styled after Passenger in this piece, and that's the song he ends shows with. (I do not actually hate Let Her Go as a song, I love it a lot, but the whole album it came from is great too, and I have no idea how he has faded back into obscurity so easily).


End file.
